National Park Walks with Kids: The Cairngorms

Anna (@annamaxlennan), mum of 1, and one of our Little Trekkers Ambassadors shares her favourite walks in the Cairngorms National Park with us as part of our National Park Walks with Kids series, for National Walking Month.

Being the largest National Park in the UK, The Cairngorms has no shortage of adventure opportunities. As a family, we are drawn to the Rothiemurchus area. It’s family friendly, it’s beautiful and there is always something new to discover. Our favourite walk there is currently Loch an Eilein!

The route hugs the loch shores the whole way round, walking through beautiful pinewoods and passing a ruined castle on an island.

To get to the designated carpark, follow the sign posts from the B970 for Loch an Eilein and continue down the minor road until you reach the car park at the end of the road. The carpark is at the very end of this road so you cannot go wrong. It is a large car park which is charged per person / per car by an attending.

Once parked, follow the path out of the carpark and begin the walk. You will pass a sign post which points towards the visitor's centre and the dog exercise area. Dogs are welcome along the route; this facility just provides a safe place to play / exercise your pup beforehand if you wish. Please use this to your advantage to stop dogs going after any wildlife.

Once at the loch’s shores you can either go left or right to begin the circuit. We usually head right first, as the ruined castle island is a few minutes' walk this way. You can reach the viewpoint by going both ways, but we like to start our walk by passing the castle. If you stay hugging the loch and walk over a few tree routes for a few meters and you will come to a small dock, which gives lovely views over the whole loch and castle. It’s normally relatively quiet at the dock as most return up to the path once seeing the castle rather than following the small man-made grass path along here.

Once back up on the route path, follow the designated signs round the route. This area is a high fire risk so you will pass small stations set up with fire brooms, on the off chance you spot a fire or accidentally cause one. Please be sensible with smoking in this area due to this!

The path crosses two rivers, one half way around and one towards the end of the walk. Both have sturdy wooden bridges to cross and give lovely views onto the loch.

Towards the end of the route, you will pass a white cottage and the path gets a little pot-holey here. Prams / wheelchairs will still manage to pass with ease but the potholes make for great puddle jumps after a rainfall.

Once you have passed over the second wooden bridge the path will lead back to the start point. Head right to return to the car or left to visit the visitors center and toilets.